For a society to thrive it needs to prosper. Last week we read about the problems with ‘for profit’ and ‘not for profit’ models in relation to poverty (the opposite of prosperity). We read that both can perpetuate the poverty cycle. One by greed and stinginess and the other by having the organisation and the people working for it becoming part of the problem, by becoming the poor.
To reiterate:
“Income minus expenses can equal:
- positive (profit = money to pay bills, give away, spend, and invest for the future),
- negative (loss over time which may lead to bankruptcy, even prison), or
- break even (no money available for investment for the future, to pay for unexpected contingencies, or to spend on anything, and none available to help others)”
So, a ‘not for profit’ (NFP) model by its very nature implies there are no funds available to be used as described above.
Thus, the key to economic (and community) freedom is the healthy use of money, also known as stewardship, which is one of the four main themes of Imagineering 2 a Better World (IM2).
One of the goals of IM2 is to help people realise that we need both love and money to create a better world. Part of that involves education as to how to have a healthy relationship with money such as learning emotional and financial intelligences and to understand some spiritual dimensions. Greed, poverty and generosity are included in the spiritual category. For more, check out the book, Prosper as Your Soul Prospers.
The opposite of poverty is abundance / prosperity.
Prosperity is love, peace, joy, hope for the future, close family, loyal friends, vibrant health and
financial freedom (doing what you love whether it is paid or voluntary).
For a city and its people to thrive, there needs to be a healthy economy which is largely based on the business sector. People have jobs and/or their own businesses, so have money to pay bills, spend, give away to help others, and to invest for the future. Both the businesses and the people have money to pay taxes which help support the government to provide community services.
By now you will understand that ‘not for profit’ is NOT the answer. So, consider combining the two sectors! The key is what type of ‘for profit’ business works best for all of us; how to work together to promote industry and creativity, so we all prosper. How do we combine a social justice (or better world) vision with a ‘for profit’ model?
In 2017, I posted an article outlining my choice of a ‘for profit’ model which is a Social Enterprise. We read that ideally this would be winsome. Using a play on the word, this may imply many wins.
WINSOME
“So win -win – win – win … all stakeholders win:
W – Wider Community or World
I – Inventors and Investors
N – Network of Consumers and Suppliers
S – Staff
O – Owner/s
M – Management
E – Environment and Entrepreneurs”
So how can we introduce this type of business structure into our cities to help transform them?
The answer to this question of how to use this Social Enterprise model for the betterment of society will be addressed in Part 3.